Best PlacesHowell, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Howell, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Howell ranks 866th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Howell
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Howell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Howell ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of cities
- QuietBetter than 93% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of cities
Where Howell ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 8% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 12% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Howell
A household needs to earn about $91,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Howell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $104,086, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Howell's effective rate of 0.93%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Howell
Howell's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Howell.
Who works in Howell, and how
Work in Howell centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Howell
Howell has more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Howell and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Howell, month by month
Howell sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 26° | 20° |
| April | 58° | 47° | 38° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 63° | 53° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Howell
The nearest airport, Bishop International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 39 miles away.
The best schools in and around Howell
Schools across Howell average a B−, better than 51% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Hornung Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Creekside Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Hartland Lakes Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Maltby Intermediate SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Hartland Farms Intermediate SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Parker Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Brighton High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Hartland High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Howell High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Howell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Howell measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Howell against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Howell suits
Families
Schools land around the 51st percentile and crime safety beats 97%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Howell
Is Howell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Howell ranks 866th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and civic engagement, and lowest on cell coverage and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Howell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $342,376. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $104,086 median income, cost of living beats 63% of cities.
Is Howell safe?
Yes, Howell is safer than 97% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $191 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Howell?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 32 with lows near 20. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 39% of cities.
Is Howell good for families?
Schools beat 51% of cities, crime safety beats 97%, and childcare runs $976 a month.
Compare Howell with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Howell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Howell represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Howell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Howell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Howell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Howell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Howell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Howell detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.